Goodyear: Fixing A Leak Means Free Baseball Tickets

By Kathleen Ferris

Fix a Leak Week is a big deal around here. This year it's even bigger for City of Goodyear baseball fans.

Fix a Leak Week is a funny name for a serious campaign. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense Program started the campaign five years ago after researchers revealed some startling data: An average household loses 10,000 gallons of water every year due to leaks.

A world always looking for fresh water supplies can’t afford such neglect. So, Fix a Leak Week (March16 to March 22) activities are designed to encourage families to fix that running toilet, the sprinkler head that creates a puddle every time it runs, or the drip line that gushes instead of drips.

This year, Fix a Leak Week is getting an early start in Goodyear. Households that reduce the amount of water they use by fixing a leak (or taking shorter showers or replacing turf with desert landscaping) get free spring training baseball tickets. Here’s how it works.

Check your water bill. If you use less water this January or February than you did in January and February of 2014, you win. About 2,000 households already qualified in January.

You don’t have to do the math. If you’ve succeeded, you will be notified in one of two ways. City of Goodyear water customers just have to look at their bill. There will be a “You Fixed a Leak!” message stamped in the center with directions to redeem your tickets inside the envelope. If you are a Liberty Utilities customer, you’ll get a special letter in the mail.

Simply take your water bill or letter to the Goodyear Ballpark ticket office. You will receive two complimentary tickets to a Spring Training game during Fix a Leak Week, March 16 through March 22.

But wait, there’s more. The cities of Goodyear and Avondale will have promotional tables at three out of seven game days during Fix a Leak Week. Bring your water bill to these tables and there will be a gift for you.

Even if you don’t have a winning water bill, it will be worth a visit to the tables. You can pick up a hard copy of the AMWUA cities’ Smart Home Water Guide. It is a step-by-step guide to finding and fixing obvious, and not so obvious, leaks in your home and yard.

Goodyear Ballpark and its Cleveland and Cincinnati teams are into Fix a Leak Week. During the entire month of March the stadium’s scoreboard will flash messages reminding fans to fix a leak. The stadium also will promote the AMWUA cities’ annual Fix A Leak One For Water 4-Mile Race and Family Fun Festival on March 21 in Peoria. The rather-famous Leaky "Loo" McFlapper, a 6-foot running toilet, will lead the race. There will be prizes, food, music and lots of help to fix a leak.

About half the fans who attend Goodyear Ballpark games are from Goodyear and the remainder come from all over the Valley, the state, and the country. So Goodyear and the Goodyear Ballpark are helping to spread the word around the country.

If you live in Goodyear, hurry, it’s time for a plan to fix a leak, reduce water use now, save some money and get two free tickets to spring ball. If you’re not a baseball fan, those two tickets will be a great way to get winter visitors out of the house for a few hours. Play Ball.

For 45 years, Arizona Municipal Water Users Association has worked to protect our member cities’ ability to provide assured, safe and sustainable water supplies to their communities. For more water information visit www.amwua.org.